DRB Pic-of-the-Day: The Majesty of Orion Nebula

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" --Job 38:31

The Orion Nebula has this special visual grandeur making it irresistible for amateur astronomers to study, but in addition to its colossal magnificence, it is by no means a static celestial object - inside of it rage "Stellar Winds" sending stupendous shock waves through the gas clouds, compacting them almost to the point of gravitational collapse. It is also well-known stellar nursery, continuously giving birth to new stars. Allow us another quote: "In this bowl of stars we see the entire star formation history of Orion printed into the features of the nebula: arcs, blobs, pillars, and rings of dust that resemble cigar smoke." (Massimo Robberto)

"This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what lies near the sword of the constellation Orion - an active stellar nursery containing thousands of young stars and developing protostars. Many will turn out like our sun. Some are even more massive. These massive stars light up the Orion nebula, which is seen here as the bright region near the center of the image.

To the north of the Orion nebula is a dark filamentary cloud of cold dust and gas, over 5 light-years in length, containing ruby red protostars that jewel the hilt of Orion's sword. These are the newest generation of stars in this stellar nursery, and include the protostar HOPS 68, where Spitzer spotted tiny green crystals in a surrounding cloud of gas."

DRB is a top-ranked and respected source for the best in art, travel and fascinating technology, with a highly visual presentation. Our in-depth articles in many categories make DRB a highly visual online magazine, bringing you quality entertainment every time you open your "feed" reader or visit our site - About DRB